Clinton has a lot of company using private e-mail

There’s some irony in the fact that Hillary Clinton was forced to address the issue of private e-mails days before Sunshine Week, an annual event that began Sunday organized by the American Society of News Editors to raise public awareness about the need for public access to government information.

For years, freedom-of-information organizations have beat the drum about the public’s business being conducted privately, but there has been little public outrage or response. Then came the revelation that Clinton had used a private e-mail domain throughout her years as Secretary of State. Just as a celebrity associated with a cause or disease can spike public interest, suddenly freedom of information is trending.

The controversy over Clinton’s use of private e-mails while she was secretary of State might be embarrassing, but her political rivals will be hard-pressed to use it to their advantage. She just has too much company. Other prominent politicians have used their private accounts for government business:

• Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin used a personal e-mail account in office, eventually leading to a state Supreme Court ruling that the public has a right to see private e-mails about the public’s business.

• In November, Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s office acknowledged that he had used private e-mails to conduct public business.

• Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker used a private e-mail system during his term as Milwaukee County executive.

It doesn’t stop there, and it knows no political boundaries. Mayors, school board members, county commissioners, senators, governors and many more play fast and loose with electronic communications. Doing the public’s business through private e-mails is a frequent practice nationwide, in offices high and low.

“It’s an issue that is common on all levels of government,” says Adam Marshall, legal fellow for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “It’s an endemic problem.”

State public records laws are designed to give citizens the information they need to assess the work of public officials, but the texts and private e-mails are an end run around the public’s right to know.

“It has a devastating impact on the ability of the people — whether the people of a state or people of a nation — to understand what their elected officials are doing,” Marshall says.

Private e-mails among public officials also undercut open public meetings when the real discussions occur electronically.

“If all the deliberations take place over private accounts before a meeting is conducted, then it’s merely the illusion that public debate is happening and that open meetings are taking place,” Marshall says.

Legislation often lags behind technology, and many states are still plugging holes in their open records laws. Last year, for example, Maine barred state employees from using texts, instant messaging or personal e-mail to do state business.

Government communications in a digital era are easier to track in many respects. In the age of typewriters and paper, a reporter seeking documents had to hope a government office kept copies. But at a time of instantaneous and mobile communication, messages can also be easier to hide or destroy.

Clinton’s use of private e-mails in a job laden with classified information was reckless, but the upside is that hours of cable coverage and breathless pundits have signaled to public officials across the country that there could be a political price for not disclosing your correspondence.

When Clinton ran for the presidency in 2008, she was asked by Sunshine Week organizers for her thoughts about access to public information. “I believe in an open, transparent government that is accountable to the people,” she wrote.

Principles are one thing. Practice is another. The free flow of information will inevitably depend on public officials complying with both the spirit and letter of public records laws. Disclosure is good for democracy.

Ken Paulson is the president of the First Amendment Center, dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors.